Introducing POLITICO Pro

Nearly four years ago, POLITICO launched with a team of about 40 journalists and went on to change the game of political journalism.

Now, POLITICO formally announces its plans to take a team of the same size and launch a new product in February 2011, with similarly large ambitions: POLITICO Pro, a subscription service providing highly detailed, rapid-fire reporting on the politics of energy, technology and health care.

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“Political and policy professionals want someone to cut through the clutter, tell them what really matters and tell them first,” said POLITICO Executive Editor Jim VandeHei. “We have a proven track record for doing just that — and POLITICO Pro will build on it.”

Hiring for the new product has already begun, led by Tim Grieve, the editor-in-chief of POLITICO Pro, currently a deputy managing editor at POLITICO.

“I don’t know where it’s written down that policy coverage has to be boring,” Grieve said. “A lot of other policy-focused publications produce dry recitations of hearings and meetings. We’ll put all of our money in what matters most: journalists who can deliver human intelligence better and faster than anyone else.”

The energy team will be led by Dan Berman, a former senior reporter for Greenwire and editor of Environment & Energy Daily, and include Darren Samuelsohn, Josh Voorhees and Robin Bravender — all of whom left E&E to join POLITICO — plus Darren Goode from The Hill and several more reporters to be announced soon.

Kim Hart, who has covered the tech sector for The Washington Post, The Hill and POLITICO, will lead POLITICO Pro’s technology team. She’ll be joined by Tony Romm, co-author of POLITICO’s Morning Tech, and Jennifer Martinez from GigaOm and the Tribune Co.’s Washington bureau, along with four other reporters.

The health care team will be led by Diane Webber, a veteran of the New York Post, the Brooklyn Papers, Scholastic and other publications, building on the foundation laid by Sarah Kliff and Jennifer Haberkorn, authors of the POLITICO Pulse morning newsletter.

POLITICO’s LaRonda Peterson will serve as POLITICO Pro’s production editor, leading a team that will include copy editor Abby McIntyre and Web producers Kate Nocera, Jess Kamen and Alex Guillen.

Poppy MacDonald, who has launched new products for Gallup Inc. and The Advisory Board Co., will lead POLITICO Pro’s sales and customer relations teams. Early hires in those areas include Miki King, Khari Joseph and Lauren Englander.

The launch comes at a time of rapid change in Washington’s journalism landscape, as players such as Bloomberg are expanding, while older players such as National Journal have reinvented themselves to respond to the 24/7 pace of today’s news cycle.

“Our ambition is to emerge from the great upheaval in journalism to become the dominant publication covering Washington politics and governance,” VandeHei said.